A&T Volleyball Begins Conference Play This Weekend in Wilmington

The Aggies went 2-0 last season against the Seahawks.

2023 ERIN E.MIZELLE

Naiya Sawtelle needs 53 kills to join the Aggies 1,000-kills club.

Women's Volleyball | 9/14/2023 12:45:00 PM

GAME: North Carolina A&T Aggies (2-6, 0-0 CAA) at UNC Wilmington (3-7, 0-0 CAA)
DATE: September 16-17, 2023
TIME(s): 4 p.m./2 p.m.
LOCATION: Wilmington, N.C. (Hanover Hall)
FLOVOLLEYBALL ANNOUNCERS: Jim Whitmeyer (play-by-play); Tom Lamont (analyst)

GREENSBORO – Conference play begins this weekend for the North Carolina A&T volleyball team when they travel to Wilmington, N.C., to face the UNC Wilmington Seahawks. The Aggies are entering the second season of conference play in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA). The Aggies had an interesting non-conference experience. A&T came close to securing some marquee wins during the non-conference portion of the season.

The Aggies lost in five sets to Southern Illinois, Charleston Southern and Appalachian State. The combined record of those teams currently is 20-9, including 9-0 App State. A&T also had some competitive three-set losses that they could have extended with a break or two here or there. Rutgers and Chattanooga had to surpass the 25-point mark in the third set of those respective matches to beat A&T in three. In addition, the Aggies lost to USC Upstate 26-24, 25-16, 26-24.

A&T's two wins came in three sets, including the Aggies' first-ever three-set win over crosstown rival UNC Greensboro at the App State tournament. Meanwhile, the Seahawks will go into conference play losing four of their last five, including their last three. UNCW's previous win came on Sept. 7 when they defeated Alabama State at home in four.

STORYLINES:

The Aggies are on the road this weekend for a two-match weekend series against UNCW after winning both matches against the Seahawks last season at A&T's Moore Gymnasium. UNCW leads the all-time series, 25-7.
A&T head coach Hal Clifton is entering his 13th season with the volleyball program. He has transitioned the Aggies from a two-win team to one of the stronger programs in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and then into the Big South Conference in 2021 for one season. He is now in Year 2 of transitioning the Aggies into the CAA.
He received his coveted conference championship in the spring of 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading the Aggies volleyball program to its first-ever conference title by winning the MEAC. In addition, Clifton has led the Aggies to three postseason appearances, including an NCAA tournament no-contest win in 2021 because of a COVID forfeit by Rice.
Last season marked A&T's first losing season since 2016. The Aggies earned postseason appearances in 2019, the spring of 2021 and the fall of 2021. Clifton is second all-time in coaching victories at A&T with 120, putting him 43 wins behind Kathy Bullock.
The Aggies have one of the best outside hitters in the conference in their lineup in junior Naiya Sawtelle. She finished second in the CAA in kills per set last season (4.17) behind player of the year in Delaware's Lani Mason.
Early in the season, Sawtelle leads the CAA in kills (4.07) and points per set (4.72).
Sawtelle also has a player of the Week recognition to her credit. She earned it after averaging 5.33 kills, 2.17 digs and 6.17 points in six sets played at the University of Virginia's Cavalier Classic. She has seven career weekly honors.
On Sept. 7, 2023, Sawtelle recorded 12 kills against App State to move beyond the 900-kill plateau for her career. She became the seventh Aggie to record 900 or more assists in a career.
She enters the weekend 53 kills shy of 1,000 for her career. When she gets there, she will be the fourth Aggie to reach 1,000 kills for a career, joining Arlene Mitchell, Brooke Stamnes and Courteney Pitt.
Sawtelle recently passed two-time MEAC player of the year Edie Brewer (946) on the all-time kills list to move into fourth place.
A&T has used the service ace to score this season, ranking third in the conference at 2.0 aces per set. Sawtelle and sophomore setter Chiara Napoli are tied for seventh in the CAA in aces per set at 0.50.
Napoli is off to a great start this season. She has toppled her career-high in assists three times this season, including recording over 40 assists in a match twice. The last time she exceeded her career-high in assists came on Sept. 7 when she posted 46 in a five-set loss to App State.
In addition, Napoli has also reached her career-high in assists in a three-set match three times this season, with the last occasion coming on Sept. 8 when she had 27 assists against UNCG. Napoli also has three double-doubles this season to give her 10 for her career, and she had a career-best six total blocks against App State.
Junior Maya Johnson controls things at the net for A&T, averaging 0.93 blocks per set. She had a career-best 10 blocks against App State on Sept. 7, making her the fifth player in program history to record 10 blocks in a match.
A&T played in three non-conference tournaments this season, earning a few all-tournament honors along the way. Sawtelle earned all-tournament honors for the University of Virginia's Cavalier Classic and the Charleston Southern Invitational. Johnson and Liselotte Spoormakers earned all-tournament recognition at the Appalachian State Black and Gold Classic.
Spoormakers has had two matches where she has had at least 10 swings and zero attack errors. She had six kills on 10 swings with no attack errors against Southern Illinois, and she posted zero attack errors on 13 swings with nine kills against UNCG. Among the Aggies with at least 50 swings this year, she leads the team with a .303 hitting percentage.